In many ways Cameron Jones is typical of the 2004 Cal men's water team. The 6-2, 205 pound redshirt freshman is one of several talented young Golden Bears (19-8) who are preparing for this weekend's MPSF Tournament at Stanford. Kirk Everist's squad, made up of mostly sophomores and freshmen, has proven it can compete with the nation's best as it has given No. 1-ranked UCLA one of its two losses this season, and last weekend No. 4 Cal upended No. 2-ranked Stanford, 6-5, at The Big Splash.

Yet, Jones is distinctly different from his Cal teammates, and a lot of it has to do with his experiences prior to arriving on the Berkeley campus.

Of the Bears' squad of 25 players, Jones is one of only four players not from the state of California. He grew up in Portland, Ore., attending one of Portland's inner-city high schools - Lincoln. While Oregon is not known as a hotbed of high school water polo, Jones was able to catch the eye of Cal's associate head coach Boyd Lachance.

"I played club water polo for Tualatin Hills (outside of Portland) and we made a couple of trips to California," said Jones. "We played in a tournament in San Diego and also competed at the Junior Olympics in Southern California. Apparently Boyd said he had been noticing me since I was 15, but I had no idea of that. I never thought I would end up here at Cal. I had considered the Naval Academy and a couple of other places, but I was always the one making the first contact. Then one day Boyd called me and wanted me to come here. I knew right then and there that Cal was the place."

However, there is more to the Cameron Jones story than just an Oregon kid coming down to California to play water polo for the Bears. When Jones was a sophomore in high school, he embarked on a journey that helped define him as a student, and as an athlete.

"When I was a sophomore, I attended Durban High School in South Africa," explained Jones. "The school was very disciplined. We had to wear a coat and tie, slacks, and dress shoes every day. It was an all-male school with mixed races - 60 percent black, 35 percent white and five percent Indian. It made me grow up really quick. I had attended an inner-city high school in Portland where the color of your skin didn't matter. But in South Africa, it gave me a different perspective. I wished my experiences were something everyone could get a chance to experience. It opens your eyes. Everyone got along. Even though there were problems there 10 years ago, people are moving on. Everything is getting better. The younger generations are getting used to the mixing of the races and not judging people by their skin color, but rather for who they are. It also helped me become a better water polo player."

Jones was able to have the opportunity to live in South Africa during his sophomore and junior years of high school when his uncle, Donald Smith Jones, introduced Cameron to Mike Samuel and his son, Gareth. With permission from his parents, Cary and Gail, Cameron soon ventured off to live with 150 other students in a boarding house and play water polo with Gareth as an exchange student at Durban High School. Jones excelled in his new surroundings. He was a member of a water polo team that was the South Africa national champion in 2000 and 2001, and in 2001 he was the MVP of the South African Championship of Schools.

The opportunity to compete in water polo in South Africa obviously helped Jones' play as he went on to be the Metro League MVP in water polo when he returned to Portland, and then graduated early from high school to attend Cal. The experience in South Africa also helped direct his academic interests as well. Jones will be majoring in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in international relations, and would like to someday work for the United Nations or an embassy in Africa or the Middle East. He has already taken Swahili and is currently studying Arabic.

So now, along with all the rich experiences he has enjoyed, Jones is in the midst of the Bears battling for a spot in the NCAA championship this weekend at Stanford. Cal must win the MPSF tournament to advance on to the NCAA Final Four, and will probably have to go through No. 3 USC, Stanford and UCLA for a chance at the national title.

"Everyone knows we are young," said Jones, who has notched two goals on the year, but has played in nearly every match this season. "We've defeated UCLA, so we know we can beat the top teams. There is no reason we can't win the national championship. Everyone on the team is extremely talented and everyone has a role. My role is to play defense and swim on the counterattack."

Jones and his fellow Bears are not unaccustomed to winning championships, as he and three other current Cal players - Brian Kinsel, Nate Bennett and Dan Werner - were on a Lamorinda club team, coached by Lachance, that won the 20-under national championship in 2003.

"I knew Cameron was a type of player we would like at Cal," said Lachance. "Regardless of where you are from, if you can play the game, you can play the game. I saw him in Santa Barbara when he was younger and I could tell he had a relentless attitude. I could see he was a determined young man. Cameron is very coachable, always positive, and a mentor to his teammates. I definitely thought he could play at the Division I level. He is also a unique individual. He has traveled a lot, experienced some great things and graduated early so he could come to Cal. He is a team favorite and one of the best choices I have ever made concerning a student-athlete."